


until our hearts give out

by painintheassnojutsu



Series: Naruto Femslash Week 2018 [8]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Adopted Uzumaki Naruto, Drabble, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Moving On, Naruto Femslash Week 2018, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15854232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painintheassnojutsu/pseuds/painintheassnojutsu
Summary: Nobody sees anything until they see Mikoto strolling through town, her head held high with a yellowing bruise on display and a blond boy on her back. Her husband and her two sons are walking beside her.





	until our hearts give out

**Author's Note:**

> femslash week day 4, prompt is "grief"

_“And that's why I like Ichiraku’s ramen best, y'know!”_

 

Mikoto freezes at the sudden memory, very carefully not looking around for the familiar flash of red hair.

 

“Mikoto? Did you hear me?” Fugaku asks, not looking up from his newspaper.

 

She smiles politely and lifts her cup of tea. “Yes, dear. Are you sure it would be best to promote him so soon? Daichi is only a teenager, after all. Isn't Minori better suited to the position?”

 

Fugaku nods. “Perhaps. We will discuss it further with those who will work closest to whoever receives the promotion.”

 

Mikoto hums. Her lips hover over the brim of her mug.

 

“I didn't do nothin’, old man! I was just lookin’!” a boy shouts, and _oh, how that sounds so familiar._

 

She allows herself to glance in the direction of the commotion.

 

_Oh._

 

It isn't until Fugaku is shoving napkins on her leg and muttering curses that she realizes she dropped her mug.

 

“ _Naruto,_ ” she breathes, and she stands. “Naruto,” she repeats, almost soundlessly, and suddenly she is running, running to defend _Kushina’s son_ , to defend Kushina's honor and— _and_ —

 

She isn't moving anymore.

 

“Mikoto,” Fugaku says. He is holding her wrists.

 

He is _holding you back, Mikoto-chan! You can't let the clan keep_ **_doing this_ ** _to you!_

 

She shakes the thought from her head. “Release me, Fugaku,” she orders.

 

The man's brows furrow, ever so slightly. “You can't go after him. Do you understand the rumors that would spread if the matriarch of the Uchiha clan were to interact with that boy? We're despised enough as it is,” he tells her.

 

“Do you _really think I care about a silly thing like reputation? I'll intimidate anyone into doing whatever I want them to, no big deal!_ ” Mikoto feels the familiar words being forced through her mouth, and she rips her arms away. “It's not my fault if you can't understand.”

 

“Mikoto,” he says again, and this time Mikoto doesn't stick around to hear the rest. She bolts.

 

If the very next day she is released from T&I’s custody with a nasty bruise on her upper lip and papers stating her new guardianship of Uzumaki Naruto—well. Nobody sees.

 

Nobody sees anything until they see Mikoto strolling through town, her head held high with a yellowing bruise on display and a blond boy on her back. Her husband and her two sons are walking beside her.

 

When she sets the blond boy down and he runs to the swings with her other sons, Mikoto thinks she sees long red hair waving behind him, thinks she hears him yell that he'll be hokage—

 

She sits down and smiles politely at Mebuki and her daughter, Sakura.

 

Kushina is dead.

 

But a part of her is still around.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!


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